Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Allows registered voters to submit application to vote by mail using online voter registration website maintained by Secretary of State up to seven days before election.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the manner of submitting applications to vote by mail and amending P.L.2019, c.382 and P.L.2009, c.79.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2019, c.382 (C.19:31-6.4c) is amended to read as follows:
1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a person who is qualified to register to vote may submit a voter registration form electronically on a secure Internet website maintained by the Secretary of State, if the applicant has an email address and provides a valid New Jersey driver's license number, a valid New Jersey nondriver identification card number, or the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number. The voter registration form shall contain substantively the same information required to be contained on a paper voter registration form pursuant to section 16 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C.19:31-6.4). The voter registration form available electronically shall enable a person who is qualified to register to vote, and a person who is registered to vote, to apply for and receive a mail-in ballot as provided under section 3 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-3), until the voter requests otherwise.
a. The Secretary of State shall apply the same voter registration deadline applicable under current law for paper voter registration forms to an online voter registration form submitted by an applicant pursuant to this section.
b. The applicant completing the form shall affirmatively attest to the truth of the information provided in the form.
c. For voter registration purposes, the applicant shall affirmatively assent to the use of his or her signature from his or her driver's license or non-driver identification card or the applicant's digitized or electronic signature.
d. For each online voter registration form, the Secretary of State shall obtain either an electronic copy of the applicant's signature from his or her driver's license or non-driver identification card directly from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, or the applicant's digitized or electronic signature.
e. Upon submission of an online voter registration form pursuant to this section, the electronic voter registration system shall automatically acknowledge that the online voter registration form has been submitted successfully, and provide instructions on how the person completing the voter registration form may follow-up on the status of the submission either online or by contacting the appropriate county commissioner of registration.
f. The Secretary of State shall employ security measures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of voter registration forms submitted electronically pursuant to this section.
g. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and the Secretary of State shall jointly develop a process and the infrastructure to allow the electronic copy of the applicant's signature and other information required under this section that is in the possession of the commission to be transferred to the Secretary of State and to the appropriate county election officials to allow a person who is qualified to register to vote in New Jersey to register to vote under this section.
h. If an applicant cannot electronically submit the information required pursuant to this section, the applicant shall nevertheless be able to complete the online voter registration form electronically on the Secretary of State's Internet website, print a paper copy of the completed form, and mail or deliver the paper copy of the completed form to the Secretary of State or the appropriate county election official. For the purposes of this subsection, the applicant shall be required to provide the same documents required to be provided with a paper voter registration form pursuant to R.S.19:31-5.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.382, s.1)
2. Section 3 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-3) is amended to read as follows:
3. a. A qualified voter shall be entitled to vote using a mail-in ballot:
(1) in all future elections, including general elections, held in this State, in which the voter is eligible to vote; or
(2) in any single election held in this State.
The qualified voter who chooses the option to vote using a mail-in ballot in all future elections shall be furnished with such a ballot by the county clerk without further request on the part of the voter and until the voter requests in writing that the voter no longer be sent a mail-in ballot.
The mail-in ballot application form prepared by the Secretary of State shall present the two options in the order provided above.
The additional direct expenditures required for the implementation of the provisions of this subsection as amended by section 1 of P.L.2018, c.72 shall be offset pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2019, c.459 (C.19:63-29).
b. (1) Not less than seven days before an election in which a voter wants to vote by mail, the voter may apply to the person designated in section 5 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-5), for a mail-in ballot. The application shall be in writing, shall be signed by the applicant and shall state the applicant's place of voting residence and the address to which the ballot shall be sent. The Secretary of State shall prepare a mail-in application form and shall have the authority to promulgate any rules and regulations the secretary deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subsection.
(2) Not less than seven days before an election in which a voter wants to vote by mail, instead of submitting an application under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the voter may apply for a mail-in ballot electronically through the voter registration website established by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2019, c.382 (C.19:31-6.4c), which application shall be electronically submitted to the person designated in section 5 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-5). The application shall be in electronic form, shall be signed by the applicant using the applicant s electronic signature in the Statewide Voter Registration System, and shall state the applicant's place of voting residence and the address to which the ballot shall be sent. The Secretary of State shall prepare a mail-in ballot electronic application form and shall have the authority to promulgate any rules and regulations the secretary deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subsection.
c. Any voter wanting to vote by mail in any election may apply to the person designated in section 5 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-5) for a mail-in ballot to be sent to the voter. A voter who is a member of the armed forces of the United States may use a federal postcard application form to apply for a mail-in ballot.
d. Any voter who fails to apply for a mail-in ballot before the seven-day period prescribed in subsection b. of this section may apply in person to the county clerk for a mail-in ballot up to 3 p.m. of the day before the election.
e. A person voting by mail-in ballot who registered by mail after January 1, 2003, who did not provide personal identification information when registering pursuant to section 16 of P.L.1974, c.30 (C.19:31-6.4)